Plate cylinder for printing presses



July 20, 1954 K. E. Fmr-sz ETAL PLATE CYLINDER FOR PRINTING PRESSES 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 19, 1953 ,llllllil Iiweaaoas.: arlles di. Mese,

.Ke z) y JMW Mm W01, (lf/W July 20, 1954 K. E. FRlEsz ETAL PLATE CYLINDER FOR PRINTING PRESSES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 19, 1953 July 20, 1954 K. E. FRlEsz Erm. 2,684,029

PLATE CYLINDER FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 19, 1953 3 ShelLS-Sheel'I 3 atented `uly 20, 1954 geant Kenneth E; Friesz, Dorchester; andCharlesn.

Manu-factnringodinpan poratinaoffMassaclinsettsi: 1 Application May 19;:1953,"serial` No'. 355,976

5 :claimen (ol. 101e-415.102

This invention relate'sto printing cylinders and more particularly to the construetionAv thereof" providing for securing' printing platesfabonttheir' surfaces. rIhe object'pf the'invention is to' prod vide'a simple and eiicient construction forcl'ampjd ing the' adjacent` ends ofthe plate or plates*withv which the' cylinder is" clothed-and -for tensioning them. In'particular 'we provide acorn-pact Varrangement permitting the'clam'ping'to loeefcted with a minimum loss ofY space at lthe surface of the cylinder betweenv V the 4plate'ends and* lwithioout any sharp bending of the plates. From one point of view the construction may be consideredasV an improvement' on thatdisclosied inPa/tentI 2,109,152Q'February`22; 1938. t Y

Our invention' will be" well understood byv ref f eren'cel to the 'following'descriptionrof` the illusj-r trative embodiment thereof shown-1 bywva'yl ofexample in' the accompanying drawings; wheree" n-Q Fig. l is a side elevational ViewI of" the cylinder partly broken away Fig. 2 is an end elevation; y

Fig. 3 vis a partial transverse section,"

Fig. 4 isa plan partly broken away; t t V Fig. 5 is an endview .of Certain elements;

Fig. 6 isa side view of these-meas" seen-from the' right of Fig. 5; 'and o Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan'vi'ew` of the' alo- Y posed ends 'of the 'printingl plate in" `separated relation. Y l t l Y Referring to the drawingywehave thereshown acylinder 6 aboutwhich' is"securedaprintingl plate 8 and for convenience in the'folloi/vin'gde#I scriptionv weumay assume that val single" plate' covers substantially* the Aentire periphery' of'- the" cylinder, its two-'ends' being presented' adjacent to each otherA and 'secured although? as4 vwill be obvious, more than' one plate maybe appliedto the cylinders and -the adjacent ends of i two plates' secured in the manner about-Lto be described:-

In the preferred form'of theinvention the-"end's ofthe plate 8 (see Fig. V'7)V are-provided with prof jecting lingers Ilrin alternati'ng'i'.orv staggered position at the two endsL so'th'at When'the two ends'are 'presented tceach other thejfingersj-on" one end may pass into the spaces between-those onthe other end inV int'erdigitatedrelation;- andi thus the ends of the4 main body off-thefplatefrnaybe'brought into close proximity.- "Ihe'iingersf(mayI be deflected inwardly' from"the'fperiphery'of-the cylinder to cross; as; indicated Jin` Fig;` 3,"slightlyf' within the periphery or the -cylinder-andf-Vhavetheir distal'ends; securedfat thetfurthersidefofi the lineA of crossing to suitalcvletensioningYimieansl as: hereinafter discussed.- o 1 o t The cylinder which is slrownlherein comprises) a main body portionaf,. having-xat its ends the shaft extensions l2 and end plates 6b of slightly larger diameter than the body 6a and constitutir'rgjbearers'.`4 One Yat least ofthe end plates 6b isreadily removable for-a reason which will ap' pear, and both Vare'hereinshown as seouredby screws:

The body portionta has a'nar-row slot lli-extendinglongitudinally thereof at one point ofits circumference, the slot corresponding to a geo-- metricfeleinent of the cylinder. This slot-opensy directly to a recess the radially outermostportionof `which is closely adjacenty the periphery the bore i5 Aabout the cylinder 23. 'IliershellsV are's'hown separately inFigs. 5 and-6.y Infcross L section thewg'eneral enveloping contour of each ofi these shells is'that of` a segment of a circular annulus' lessthan -180D in extent. The inner surfa'cesarecylindrical andturn on the-bearing member 2'.` They can thus turn independently aboutathe sameY center line.- The' surfaces of theV shells are grooved*at-intervals to receive` the ii1igers^-|l of the plate and in the grooves are projections 25 to .take intoopenings- 26 fin the lingers; bestfseen in Fig. 7.

I-fth'e--shllsare turned in opposite directions 22L-counte'rclockwise-andr EZ'Rrcloclv/ise viewing Figi..` 3, theA projections lmove away vfrom each other andd'raw onthe endsof the Aplate 8.! To' eiect this movementthe other ends of the shells arevl provided in the'-space'sY between th grooves with-segmental series-of gear teeth 28. f Cooperating gear teeth Sti-are cut on'at: least a portion of theperiph'ery ot-.two driving members 32 which arellfoused in thelater'a'lly int/ardlbores i8. Prefl erablyl the teeth :it cover only. aportion of theA periphery of thesemembers and. the remaining por-.tion` of. theifperipherie's bear ron the walls of theixlooresz. i8.. The. shells: 221 and their bearing t member. 20 are supported and suspended: by thserlateralidriversrZ; f

Td'zoperater the .drivers 321one` or preferably" both ends thereof may. havea central:extensionv` 34 through an end plate 6b to the exterior'` of' the cylinderconsidered'fasia whole.- Ali-arm 36 secured :thereto .is traversed' .by a njaclvscrew` 331 which mayY bear on one; ofthe enlarged hub-'like' extensionsAD. ofiv the.' end.v plates 6b and provides fonrockingxthearm:andturningmemberf The screw provides a micrometric adjustment and the gear connection transmits it to the segment 22 which is thereby rotated in any necessary amount for producing the desired amount of tension.

The body portion 6a of the cylinder may for convenience of manufacture be formed of three portions. One, in the case of a printing cylinder having take-up means at only one point of its periphery, is of generally cylindrical contour interrupted by a channel 42, the bottom of which is shaped to dene inner portions of the three bores, as is apparent from Fig. 3. Removable elements 44 are tted into the channel and have overhanging portions which cooperate with said bottom to denne the rest of the bores, and the extremities of the overhanging portions are slightly spaced from each other to define the entrance slot I4. Their exterior surfaces continue and complete the cylindrical contour. These members 44 may be secured in position by means of the screws 46 which, after they have been driven in, may be out off at the cylindrical surface as indicated by the showing of parts of them in dotted lines at the left of Fig. 3, after which the entire cylinder is turned or ground to its iinal size and iinish. If one of the end plates 6b is removed the bearing 2li and the shells 22 which rest thereon and the two drivers i8 may be withdrawn longitudinally of the cylinder for any desired purpose, and may be replaced in a similar manner.

While it is of course not literally true that the pitch line of the shells 22 is internally tangent to the periphery of the cylinder at the location of the slot l, it approximates such a construction, having in mind that the portions of the elements 44 at either side of the slot must have sufficient rigidity to prevent them from being distorted in use. The projections 2li, when in the position where they most nearly approach one another, are very close to such a point or" internal tangency or, to put it in another way, they are very close to the slot. The lingers in may thus be very short and are easily engaged over the projections. The slot i4 for the same reason can be very narrow and practically the full circumference of the cylinder may be utilized for printing without the necessity of providing any but the narrowest of margins.

While they are not limited to such use the cylinder shown has been found particularly adaptable to use in connection with magnesium plates printing by the dry oliset process. Such plates cannot be bent cold and if they are heated to permit bending they are likely to be distorted. A slight deflection provided at the ngers l is however possible without such heat.

We are aware that the invention may be embodied in other specic forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and we therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, as is in fact clear in several matters from the description itself. Reference is to be had to the appended claims to indicate those principles of the invention exemplified by the particular embodiment described and which we desire to secure by Letters Patent.

We claim:

l. A printing press cylinder providing means for clamping thereto intersecting plate ends having series of interdigitated fingers, the cylinder having a narrow longitudinal slot along its periphery opening to an internal recess closely adjacent its periphery, a cylindrical bearing member in said recess, segmental shells supported on said bearing member having at their adjacent ends means for engaging the plate fingers and beyond said means having gear teeth, cylinders laterally disposed in the recess having teeth cooperating with those on the shells and means accessible from the exterior of the press cylinder for adjustably rotating the lateral cylinders.

2. A printing press cylinder providing means for clamping thereto intersecting plate ends having series of interdigitated iingers, the cylinder having a narrow longitudinal slot along its periphery opening to an internal recess closely adjacent its periphery, devices received in said recess arranged for independent movement about a common center line in the radial plane of the slot, said devices having means at their adjacent ends for engaging the plate fingers and means accessible at the exterior of the cylinder for rotating the members to separate said means.

3. A printing press cylinder providing means for clamping thereto intersecting plate ends having series of interdigitated fingers, the cylinder having a narrow longitudinal slot along its periphery opening to an internal recess closely adjacent its periphery, devices received in said recess arranged for independent movement about a common center line in the radial plane of the slot, said devices having means at their adjacent ends for engaging the plate lingers and means accessible at the exterior of the cylinder for rotating the members to separate said means, said means comprising a gear connection and screw-operated means for turning the driving element thereof.

4. A printing press cylinder providing means for clamping thereto intersecting plate ends having series of interdigitated fingers, the cylinder comprising a main body having a narrow longitudinal slot, and a circular bore extending from end to end of the body closely adjacent the periphery thereof to which the slot opens radially, end plates closing the end of the bore, a cylindrical bearing member and segmental shells fitted on the same disposed between said end plates in the recess, means on the adjacent ends of the shells for engaging said fingers and means accessible from the exterior of the press cylinder for independently adjustably rotating said shells about the center line of the bore.

5. A printing press cylinder providing means for clamping thereto intersecting plate ends having series of interdigitated fingers, the cylinder comprising a main body having a narrow longitudinal slot and a recess beneath the slot formed by three intersecting circular bores extending from end to end of the body and defining cooperating pitch circles, a central and outward bore closely adjacent the periphery of the cylinder to which the slot opens radially, and lateral more inward bores, end plates closing the bores, toothed segmental members in the outward bore conned between said end plates, moving independently along one of the pitch circles and having means for engaging the fingers and toothed members rotatably received in the inward bores having teeth meshing with those of the segmental members, said latter members having parts extending through at least one of the end plates whereby they may be adjustably rotated from the exterior of the cylinder.

No references cited. 

